Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation from all of the internet’s best sites including Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, The Athletic, TSN and more!
From NHLTradeRumors.me
3 Potential Free-Agent Destinations for Zach Hyman
- Edmonton Oilers: Oilers general manager Ken Holland would likely try to be the first phone call Hyman accepts and he probably wouldn’t hang up until a deal was done. Hyman is the perfect line mate for super skilled players because of his work ethic and ability to retrieve pucks from the dirty areas. Hyman and Connor McDavid would be fun to watch. Would this spell the end for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins?
- Detroit Red Wings: Hyman went to Michigan and Detroit is reasonably close to Toronto where most of Hyman’s family resides. The Red Wings would be the perfect opportunity for Hyman to step into top-line minutes and be relied on to play a bigger role. His career high 21 goals would likely hit 30 plus with more ice-time and Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman would have that in his back pocket to offer.
- Los Angeles Kings: Kings general manager Rob Blake wants to sign a top six forward and trade for another. Hyman would be a wonderful compliment to Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown on a top-line that would be very hard to play against. The Kings have over $20 million of cap space to work with and already have 18 players under contract for next season. If it comes down to money, the most money may come from the beaches of California.
BLH’s Thoughts: If the common thread with Connor McDavid’s ideal left wing is someone who can work the corners and skate fast, why not stick Zack Kassian there and save the money? We’ve seen players who are fantastic skaters (Taylor Hall, Andreas Athanasiou) fail on his line and some who are below-average ones (Patrick Maroon, Alex Chiasson) have success.
What no GM has tried is putting a pure sniper on his left-wing. I’m not talking a Leon Draisaitl because I don’t consider him a pure sniper. I’m saying a Mike Hoffman-type and the reason I bring that up is because Jesse Puljujarvi is the big bodied corner man for Connor now, but they need someone who can finish. Is Zach Hyman a finisher?
I never really considered Detroit, but that’s a pretty good suggestion. Hyman, who’s said he’d like to remain in Toronto, would be able to stay close to home if he signed with the Red Wings and leave it to Steve Yzerman to lock up one of the premier free agents to hit the market this year…
The Pittsburgh Penguins are one of the most cap crunched teams at the moment and general manager Ron Hextall has some work to do to create some financial flexibility. The team aren’t in line to lose any key free agents but regardless, Hextall wants to add size and toughness and creating cap space would be a cherry on top.
BLH’s Thoughts: On the surface, the Oilers and Penguins could be a perfect match for each other. One team is looking for more muscle and has some extra dmen to offer and the other has some extra muscle and are looking for a defenseman, potentially.If you’re Ken Holland and Oscar Klefbom’s return to the Oilers is all but dead, do you pick up the phone and see what Ron Hextall is willing to do to get himself a Zack Kassian?
Marcus Pettersson seems to always be on his way out of Pittsburgh these days and I can see why. Four more years at $4.025M… I can’t see Holland green lighting that.
The guy I’d be after is Brian Dumoulin. He has two yrs left on his $4.1M deal and is big bodied (6’4″ 207lb) and only 29yrs old. He has two Stanley Cup rings and over 80 games played in the post-season.
That said, he has a modified no-trade clause and he’s run into some injury problems the past two years. Plus, he’s one of Pittsburgh’s main men on D.
Dumoulin for Kassian? Doubtful. Dumoulin for Kassian and Dmitri Samorukov? Probably a better offer since the Pens are looking to rebuild the cupboards and Samorukov has got an edge to his game that Brian Burke would like.
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